Friday, July 17, 2009

I'm just wallowing in the green pastures...

and that's a good thing. Let me explain. I'm finishing up my study on the names of God by Kay Arthur and have been so struck by some thing she included in her section about the Lord as our Shepherd. One of the things that a good shepherd does is leads his sheep to green pastures to feed until they are completely satisfied. The sheep can lie down in green pastures and not desire anything else because they are completely full. I know that is what the Lord does for me continually, but have been convicted by my attitude. It's very easy for me to look around and see my life as anything but "green pastures." I've been so convicted about my lack of contentment recently and have been asking the Lord to show me in such obvious ways how He provides so that my heart is reminded that I truly am lying in green pastures (or am I laying in green pastures...I can never get that grammar rule straight!)

The Lord reminded me in amazing ways this morning that He has led us to the greenest of pastures and provides for our every need. We had a clothing exchange at church this morning. As I was talking to one of the ladies, I looked down and noticed some really nice men's leather loafers. Brent really needs shoes for this fall...these were L.L. Bean tan leather loafers in a size 13 in practically brand new condition. The bottoms barely scuffed--maybe worn once! I was also able to find some clothes for Hannah for back to school--a beautiful Sunday dress from Land's End for this winter that is in brand new condition as well. I also found several tops for myself and a jacket for Daniel for this fall. It's been amazing to see the Lord provide for our needs in such over-the-top ways--much more than we need or could even have hoped for--I love LLBean and Lands End things (but Elissa and Esther...you know I love Lands End more than LLBean and always will, right?!?)

But the Lord did something else for us, too, this morning. Our kitchen sink has not been draining for several days now. Brent has tried everything imaginable to fix it. (do you know how very disgusting a kitchen drain pipe can be? If not, trust me when I say you do not want to know!) Brent's been running things by his dad, who is a master of all trades, and neither one of them could figure out why the drain would not, well...drain! Brent spent all evening Thursday working on it and all morning today as well. He decided to run the snake through the pipes one last time even though it has not done anything to resolve the problem before. But this last time, something was different and the drain was clear. There's no human answer...he's run the snake through the pipes (quite a nasty thing to have to do, let me say it again!) countless times to no avail. But this time something changed, and the water now runs freely. I am convinced it was the Lord's doing, not the snake...but the Lord who cleared our drain for us. And we are praising the Lord for not having to call a plumber to come out and look at it. The Lord truly provides, our Jehovah-Jirah, and as our Shepherd, He leads us to such green pastures that we can't help but just wallow in the lush grass!